The World Ends With You
by Oapekay
Summary: All the world needs is me. I got my values, so you can keep yours, all right?
1. Before the Game

I thought that, seeing as I've had an account here since December of last year, I may as well put a fanfic to my name, and what better way to start than with an adaptation of my favourite DS game?

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**DISCLAIMER: I do not, in any way, profit from the story and all creative rights to the characters and story belong to their original creators.**

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_**Prologue**_

**__****_Before the Game_**

"Outta my face."

His eyes were shrouded by shadow as he kept his head slouched forward, his orange-brown hair sticking out at various angles. His clothes were baggy, his belt hung loose, his shorts were inappropriate in this climate, and he had been wearing his high-necked sleeveless dharma nearly non-stop for the better half of a year. He didn't care – what good were appearances when he needed to impress no-one?

The boy pushed his way across the Scramble, keeping his head down, his shoulders slumped and his hands deep in his pockets, his appearance disguising his animosity towards others not at all.

Upon reaching the far side of the road, he turned his gaze up the road ahead, towards the AMX store. A brown-haired girl, still wearing the white shirt and red bow of her school uniform, stopped absentmindedly a few yards before him to check her phone.

The boy heard himself saying "You're blocking my view," before shoving past her, not bothering to look back as he heard the clatter of a mobile on the pavement.

The street before the AMX mall was swarming with people, talking and laughing. They walked on every side, forcing snippets of conversations upon him. Music pumped from speakers either side of the doors to the mall, but the boy could hardly hear it above the hubbub. "Shut up. Stop talking."

Nearing Tipsy Tose Hall, a place only slightly less infested with people than AMX, one of his classmates waved a 'hello' at him, but the boy didn't return the acknowledgment, muttering only a few words as he strode passed, "Just go the hell away."

The walkway he was tracing curved up a shallow hill, paved with stairs and halved by a steel handrail, which was as cold to his touch as ice. Jumping the stairs two at a time, he at last saw the wall-art, the purpose of his visit – CAT's graffiti.

Even here, even in the polluted backstreets of Udagawa, where the walls of every street were plastered with murals or posters advertising anything, people flittered around and chattered like birds - loud, obnoxious birds.

_All the world needs is me. I got my values, so you can keep yours, all right?_ He made his way passed Cyco Records without incident, but the discs they sold coaxed him to put on his blue headphones; the music was preferable to the hubbub of conversations.

Everything in this ward of Shibuya was a mixture of greys, browns and stale greens, and the muted blue and white of the boy's clothes, as well as his orange hair, made him stand out; made him a conspicuous target.

_I don't get people._ The music built a wall around him, the heavy beats drowning their voices. _Never have, never will._

_**Chapter Closed**_


	2. The 1st Day

_**The 1st Day**_

_**Reapers' Game**_

Everyone hurried to make it across the crossing before the lights flicked back to red, though the crowd was so great, and everyone was so involved in their own activities – making a call, conversing with their friends, asking for directions – that it would have taken some time after the stop light had shown before vehicles could continue.

Individually, their voices were impossible to distinguish, but together the hubbub was enough to wake up Neku.

His eyes gradually opened, revealing sapphire-blue orbs, and the first thing he registered was the seemingly endless sea of feet that stretched and moved for all directions around him.

Neku hauled himself up from the dirty pavement, puzzled why not only he had been unconscious on the ground but also why no-one had made a scene of it. In fact, he doubted anyone had seen him at all; not that he cared, because if anyone had, he would doubtless have to fend off conversation.

At last he became aware of a small disc in his hand. Splaying out his fingers, he inspected the object, a small black pin adorned with an ivory-white skull. The design was familiar, like a distant memory, and its weight felt nice against his palm.

He threw it into the air and caught it again, but the moment it connected the din of voices was augmented, individual voices screaming broken sentences that battered into his mind, swamping the music from his headphones.

Just as suddenly, they were gone.

"What the…" Neku stumbled backwards as the thoughts became his own again. "I can hear voices in my head!"

He regained his composure, crossing his arms and hiding his jaw below his collar. _What just happened? _Thinking to himself, he looked again at the badge. _And where'd this pin come from?_

"Hmm…" Neku closed his palm, and folded his arms once more. _This pin… Why do I have it? Wonder if there's a connection… _

There was only one way to be sure. He pressed the skull of the pin with his thumb, and again felt the rush of voices in his mind: _About time we found a team to play against… And those uniforms the floor staff had on were super-cute… "Excuse me, I was just smelling you…"_ It stopped as he moved his thumb.

Neku was no less shocked than before. _Voices! Definitely voices! But why?_ He calmed himself down, before a realisation struck him with a gasp. _Am I hearing people's thoughts! What the hell _is _this pin?_ He asked himself as he dropped the disc into his pocket

Before he could wonder further, a mobile beeped. "Huh? Whose phone?" No-one around him had registered the message, so Neku checked his own phone. "Mine?"

The message read "Reach 104. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and face erasure. —The Reapers"

Neku dismissed it with a wry smirk hidden under his collar. "Oh, that's cute. See ya, spam. Deleted." His grin faded as it failed to disappear. "Huh? Still there… It's like the junk mail from hell—"

A sharp but painful burn seared across his hand right hand, where the pin had been moments ago. Neku had raised his hand subconsciously, and felt a cold hand grip his heart for a second when he saw that a series of digits had been etched onto his palm: 59:58… 59:57… 59:56… "Huh?"

"What?" The crackle of static drew his attention over his shoulder. Four words – YOU HAVE 7 DAYS – were spelt across a large screen in a red very close to the shade of blood, but Neku barely looked at them; something much stranger was happening.

"F…frogs!" Green smooth-skinned amphibians were forcing their way through skull-shaped sigils that hung in the air like leaves falling in autumn. They were big; larger than a grown cat, but their strangest feature was their graffiti-like blue-black hind limbs, which were wiry but easily supported their bulk.

They provided the frogs with formidable jumping skills, it seemed, because no sooner than one of the creatures had landed onto the tarmac than it launched itself at Neku, knocking him onto his spine. "Oww! What the… They attacked me!" He cried aloud as he rapidly pulled himself back up. Several more graffiti-frogs joined the first, crowding around him. "What do they want with me? D-down, froggie…"

Another hurtled into him with painful strength. "…Ungh! What the hell is going on! Somebody! Help!" No-one even looked affected by his cry. "Hey… Everybody stop ignoring me! What is this place…" He was hit once more, this time from behind, and the frog circle tightened. "Crap! I gotta run!" Neku charged through an opening, sprinting as hard as he could. He didn't care where he ended up, just so long as it was away from the graffiti-frogs.

* * *

"Man, here we go again…" The orange-haired man sighed as he twiddled a sweet between his fingers, staring out over the rooftop to the streets six storeys below.

His companion beside him was amused by his complaint, keeping her arms crossed as she replied. "Stop whining." She was no less blunt than usual. "We haven't had work in, like, forever."

"Exactly. It feels like the Monday after vacation." The man batted back.

She almost laughed. "You'd prefer a permanent vacation? Day 1 has the most Players. Now's our chance to rack up some points! How else you gonna make up for last month?"

"Aight, aight…" The man groaned, supposing she was correct. "One week won't kill me. Probably." He paused for a moment, rolling the stick of the lollipop around his hand. "Hey, while we're at it… How 'bout we play a little game?"

He had piqued her interest. "A gaaame?" She cooed.

"Yeah, so it doesn't feel so much like work. C'mon, you love it." He said through a knowing grin.

"Oh, yeah. You know me." She sighed, but eventually conceded, "All right. What's the game?"

Lollipop replied instantly "How 'bout Reaper Sport 3, a Player Hunt? Let's see who bags the most Players during today's mission."

Giving a half-giggle half-cackle, she replied, "Are you joking? That's no fun at all!"

"You don't like it?" Lollipop was hardly surprised by her response, and it was evident in his voice.

"But I'm gonna crush you! There's no contest."

"Ohh, zing! Now I actually have to try." The man's voice dripped sarcasm. "You know the drill. Loser buys the winner a hot bowl of ramen." He smiled inwardly, knowing that he would not be out of pocket.

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He was out of breath; Neku had run past the large crossroad, into an open area with a dog statue, no less full of citizens milling about than the Scramble. He looked around at the people here: schoolgirls giggling, men trying to impress women, an ashen-haired youth with his hands deep in his pockets and a superior expression plastered across his face, a girl in a white dress waiting for somebody. But no amphibians "Should be… safe… here…"

He was wrong. A graffiti-frog landed several feet in front of him, and Neku was shocked. "Rrgh… Freakin' frogs! Just leave me alone! I didn't do anything to you!" Shouting at it had been a long shot, and it hadn't worked.

The frog ignored Neku, however, and plunged into the chest of a man in his twenties. He grunted in pain, and vanished in a plume of monochrome sand. Another frog did the same to a girl, and Neku realised that it was happening to people all around him.

"They vanished! Why are people disappearing! What's happening…" Neku gripped his head as he tried to get a hold of the situation, willing his heart to slow down. "Why am I even here? What the hell!" A frog leapt towards him, clipping his arm and slapping his back with its scribble-like limbs. "They're gonna get me!"

A lilting, girlish voice cried, "Found one!" It was a mixture of joy and relief.

Neku gasped, but was interrupted before he could say anything further by a girl with rosy-cerise hair, her face the picture of desperation. "You! Forge a pact with me!" She said through gritted teeth.

"Uhh… I've kinda got my hands full…" Clearly, he thought, she had responded badly to the threat of evil frogs.

She insisted, tightening her hands into clenched fists to stress the urgency. "Listen! If we forge a pact, we can beat the Noise!"

"Who cares about a little noise?" Delusional. She was definitely delusional if she was more worried about the din around them than of alien amphibians.

"You wanna get erased? Hurry up! There's no time! Make a pact with me! Please!"

Neku could do little but concede; it would be best not to argue with this girl right now. "A-all right! I accept."

A cyan light blinded him for a couple of seconds, and when it dimmed he heard the dull thumping of a heart in his ears. It wasn't his heart.

"What's with the light show?" Neku found himself giving considerable concentration to not fall over in shock, a task he had done several times already. Everything today was happening so fast, and little made sense.

The girl ignored him, and now a mask of determination covered her features. "Here! Use this pin!" She said as she slapped a red and orange badge into his open palm.

Neku was hardly listening, "But… the funny lights…" He babbled.

If she felt as surprised as he had been, she didn't show it. Her voice was stern, to make sure that she convinced him. "I'll explain later! Right now we have to stop the Noise!"

"Uhh… OK?" The boy had to accept that for now, answers would have to wait until the 'Noise' had been stopped.

One of the graffiti-frogs had ricocheted from another person and landed not far from where the pair stood. The girl shouted into his ear, "Get ready!"

Neku tensed, tightening his fist around the pin as the frog made to move again, but was surprised to see a tall stream of fire had surrounded it. In a chirp of pain, it broke into a blizzard of black, white and grey. The flames moved as he averted his gaze towards two more frogs, quickly covering and razing them.

Suddenly Neku realised something. The flames had moved at his command, he had willed them to the frogs. "That fire… I did that!"

"Whoa! You can use the pin?" His attention was brought back to the girl, who was giggling excitedly beside him. "You must be really good at psychs. Guess I found the right partner, huh?"

"That's what you call those flames? A psych?" She had been the one to hand him the pin, so surely she would know.

"Yup. And now that we've made a pact, the Noise won't come after us!"

At last, Neku managed to calm himself down, feeling his own heartbeat begin to fall. "In other words, we're safe."

"Right. See? All gone."

Still, Neku was sceptical. "All gone." He repeated, half expecting another barrage of creatures to hop after him. "So… what are Noise?"

"They're those monsters we just fought. Duh."

_Monsters? Uh, sure… _Neku inspected the red badge. _And "psychs"? Is that what this pin is for?_

"Anyway, where are my manners?" She was talking again. "My name's Shiki Misaki. Call me Shiki."

_I call this wack._

Still talking. "We've got a long week ahead of us!"

"A week? Week of what?"

"The Reapers' Game is seven days long, right?"

_Reapers? Excuse me? Who is this flake?_ He had been right earlier. She _was_ delusional.

He thought he heard her ask his name, but he kept to his thoughts as a more serious problem came to mind. _Forget her… Where am I? How did I get here?_

"C'mon, tell me your name."

_The sign says "Shibuya Station"… _The name was not familiar. _Why am I in Shibuya?_

Still the girl persisted talking and asking questions, but Neku remembered the intersection. _I just need to retrace my steps._

Neku moved away swiftly, and Shiki gasped as would a small child; responded like one too: "Hey, whoa… Wait for me!" She ran to catch him up, and he turned around the moment he realised.

"Why are you following me!" Neku snapped.

Shiki was crestfallen, mumbling, "Why are you making yourself so hard to follow?"

_Why would I slow down for you?_ "Screw you. I go where I want."

She didn't get that he wanted to be alone. "Go where? We're trapped in here!"

Delusional, but Neku half-reasoned with her anyway. "What? Don't be stupid."

"You're the one being stupid." Her emotions turned to pensiveness, then to firm insistence. "We made a pact. We're supposed to stick together!" And back again. "You can't beat the Noise alone. You can't survive!"

She really puzzled Neku. "Survive what?"

"The Game! Don't you wanna win?" His apparent ignorance chafed her patience.

_Oh, grow up._ "Pfft. Play games on your own time." _Why does she have to get me involved in her hide-and-seek?_

Shiki was genuinely surprised at his apathy towards the Game, jumping as much as if she had been scared. "Hey! That's not funny! They'll erase us if we don't win! You saw what happened to those people! You wanna join them? Besides," She perked up, "We're partners. Partners work together."

She had said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, but Neku refused to get involved.

"You're already a part of this. You're a Player, just like me." Shiki mumbled while staring at Neku's shoes.

"A what? I'm not playing anything." She wouldn't get him involved that easily.

"Oh yeah?" Shiki wouldn't be tricked like this. "Then why do you have a Player Pin?" She held up her own black-skull pin. "Don't you have a timer on your hand? I do…"

The ticking of a clock. 20:05. "What. The. Hell."

Now to ensure he got the message. "See, you're a part of the Reapers' Game, too."

Neku was silent for a moment, when she violently jumped onto one foot, arms crossed in front of her body. "We don't have time for this!" She yelled, "The clock's ticking! We've only got twenty minutes! Let's hurry to 104!"

Not sharing her desperation, a cynical expression covered Neku's face as he repeated her words. "What's that?" He remembered the word from his the text.

"Ten-Four! 104? You got the mail, right? "Reach 104 or face erasure.""

_That junk mail… Please. What kind of nut would believe that?_ He hesitated, fiddling with an orange lock._ Then again… This day has been pretty weird. And she's gonna follow me anyway. May as well go along and try to figure this out._ Neku agreed with a sigh. "Lead the way."

"Good." Finally, Shiki was making progress, and didn't want to lose ground. Firmly, she spoke to him again. "Now, for the last time… Tell me your name."

He was silent, and Shiki worried that the chance had passed, but he did reply in the end: "Neku. Neku Sakuraba."

"Neku, huh?" Shiki tried a compliment, hoping that he wouldn't walk away again. "Cute name."

_Shut up._

"All right, Neku. Let's get over to 104!"

The boy's gaze settled on a building in the distance, the Outback Cafe, and she had to get his attention again. "Hey, Neku." He didn''t turn round. "We have to get over to 104, this way. There's no time!" Shiki hoped her voice carried the urgency, but he set off again without her.

"Hey—wait up! Neku…" She saw him walking towards Centre Street. "I told you, we can't leave!"

"Oh please." Bemused, he walked towards the street, only to hit an invisible barrier. "You gotta be kidding me!"

"Next time, try listening." Shiki looked smug.

"So this is all part of that "Reapers' Game"?"

"That's right."

_This is nuts. She's actually telling the truth? Then that means the mail I got—_

"Neku! Move! We have to get to Ten-Four!"

Shiki dragged him to the right road, and he walked forward into another barrier. "Oww!" Neku yelped. "It's blocked! There's no way past!"

"We can't get through!" Shiki was equally shocked, and she hadn't even hit the wall. "But this is the way to Ten-Four!"

Neku wasn't listening to her. The hair on the back of his neck prickled, and a many-legged something crawled under his scalp, making him shiver. _Why do I feel like I'm being watched? _His eyes scoured the crowd, picking out a man in a crimson jacket, the hood pulled up to throw his face in shadow, and a green bag slung low by his waist. He wasn't heading anywhere, just stood with his hands in his pockets, looking up towards the two Players. _That guy over there. What's he staring at?_

The man muttered something that Neku couldn't catch, and his attention was diverted back to Shiki as she began talking again: "What are we gonna do about this wall?" She walked towards it, passing further than Neku had. "Huh? Neku! It's open."

"Huh? What's up with that?"

"No idea. A lucky break, I guess! C'mon, we gotta keep moving." Shiki hurried forward, leaving Neku to his thoughts.

_Something about that guy in red… Huh? Where'd he go? Weird._ Neku made after the girl.

"Made it!" Shiki was jumping with girlish joy when her partner caught up.

Neku gasped as a pressure was relieved from his hand. "The timer vanished!"

Shiki knew what that meant. "Whew. Mission complete." Only now did she realise how tense she had been, and her muscles ached as she relaxed them all.

"Pfft, big deal." A sharp female voice shouted, causing Shiki to gasp and Neku to jump in surprise; neither had been expecting her. "Only an idiot would screw up on Day 1."

"Who's there!" The voice came from above, but neither Neku nor Shiki could determine where its owner was. "Oh, no…" Shiki, though, knew _who_ its owner was. "A Reaper?"

"Reaper…" The word tasted foul as Neku repeated it.

"You two are gonna get erased sooner or later." It continued. "So come on. Help a girl out and earn me a few points, 'K?" As if on cue, three sigils appeared before the pair, and Noise began pushing their way from them.

"Those monsters again…" Neku was ready for them this time; he had won against graffiti-frogs before.

"Neku, you know how to fight now, right?" Shiki had taken something soft and black from her satchel. "This time focus your thoughts on me!"

"What? Fight your own battles!" Neku said brusquely.

"Please! To stop the Noise!"

"…Fine. Come on!" Neku concentrated on his partner, again hearing the other heartbeat, and feeling her resolve to win drifting across their pact.

He clicked the red pin as a single frog jumped towards the pair; flames encircled the creature, and it squeaked in pain, but refused to die. Before he could think of something else to do, a black stuffed cat ran up to and punched the frog, erasing it.

"Good!" Shiki encouraged her partner. "Now we can fight together! We can beat the Noise faster as a team! Let's do this!"

Neku turned his attention to the second frog, sending flames chasing after it while Shiki handled the third. The frog didn't show fear of the flames, and kept coming towards Neku as fire engulfed it, until at last it perished in a monochrome puff; Shiki's opponent had suffered the same fate.

The boy felt confident after the victory. "Is it over?"

"Not yet, Neku!" She shrieked like a small scared child. "Over there!"

He turned his attention to the final sigil, which was larger and resembled the skull of a large mammal. _Whew… This one looks tough. _Already, a graffiti claw was dragging a larger bulk from the symbol. _…Like I've got a choice._ "Hey! Stalker!"

"I'm not a stalker!" Shiki squealed in defence.

Neku didn't have time for her antics. "Whatever. Just… Don't mess this up!"

The cerise-haired girl tried to look confident. "I… I won't!"

Now, the pair could see the new Noise for what it was. It resembled a bear, and stood nearly twice Neku's height. Its entire forelimbs were made of the bone-like curves seen on the frogs' hind legs, but these were thicker and incorporated sharp claws. The bear's white-furred body was muscular and wide, and Neku guaranteed physical contact with it would be like punching a wall.

_Can't afford to be intimidated._ Neku clicked his pin again, watching the flames spread to their target. When they hit, it growled, pulled back its fearsome claws, and slammed Neku to the floor. When he hit the pavement, it felt like a rhino had run him down. "Gaah!" He shouted in pain.

With Neku's head still spinning, Shiki threw her toy at the Noise, but it batted it away with its graffiti paws.

Neku was brought back to his senses when he felt the sting of pain from Shiki: her Noise opponent had just struck her. The heartbeat in his ears increased, and he realised with a jolt that it was Shiki's. The pact had certainly connected them, and that only meant more hassle for him.

Clicking the pin again, he brought flames from behind the bear. It growled as the fire licked its fur, and grunted as the stuffed toy punched its chin. It was enough, and the Noise broke away.

"Whew… We did it…" The joy of victory escaped Shiki this time, and a sad pensive look was plastered over her face. "But you heard her… Day 1 is nothing. What if the missions only get harder? We've got six more days… Are we gonna make it? I…I don't want to be erased…" Thinking that tears would be impossible to evade if she continued this train of thought, she flicked open her phone and became entirely focused on its screen.

Neku didn't comfort her, though this was partly because he had been paying her no heed at all. He had been deep in his own thought. _I can't believe this… Why am I stuck here?_ The boy gripped his head as bad notion followed bad notion. _What if I'm erased! What the hell kind of game is this? This can't be right. Gaaah! I'm really stuck here? In Shibuya!_

_**Chapter Closed**_

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Oh flipping heck, I butchered that one… and a part of me died before the end. Before anyone complains, I will describe Shiki thoroughly in chapter two, because I have a plan to make it more effective than just throwing it in here. Please review if you have something to say or advice to give or whatever.


	3. The 2nd Day

This chapter is _quite_ long, and that doesn't really bode well for chapters based on the longer days.

* * *

_**The 2nd Day**_

_**Don't Kill Me**_

A groan escaped Neku's lips as the boy swooned onto his feet, then he gasped, "Where am I now?"

Metal on metal clattered above, the mechanical grinding sounds growing in intensity then fading as a train shuddered past with so much force that Neku was sure the graffiti plastered every inch of ceiling and wall would be shaken off and fall to the ground like dry leaves, only for the process to repeat after a matter of moments; he wasn't yet sure if he preferred this racket to the uproar Shibuya's crowds brought about.

No end of bikes stood firm by a short metal fence, and several ugly steel construction pillars grew from the floor and met the roof twenty feet above.

Sat on a bench some twelve yards from Neku, the cerise-haired girl was staring at her phone and murmuring things. As he approached, Neku overheard one such mumble: "… I hope this works out."

"Hey!"

"Aaack!" She jumped right off the bench, nearly losing grip on her phone in the process. "Don't scare me like that!" Her voice echoed her shudders.

_Grow up. _Neku, now by her, crossed his arms as he was reminded how ditzy she was. _You're obnoxious…_

Clearly, Shiki didn't recognise when someone was thinking. "Umm… Is something wrong?" She piped, blissfully unaware of her partner's grievances.

Neku cut to the point, not wishing to enter a conversation with her for longer than he needed. "Where are we?"

"Isn't this the underpass by the station?" Shiki wondered out loud, to which Neku thought, _Wasn't I asking you?_ The girl continued,"I can hear the trains."

He had stopped listening to her, and was lost in thought while he fiddled with a tuft of hair. _That's weird. How'd we get here?_ Before Neku could speculate, the pair's phones beeped.

"There's the mission! "Set the cursed sculpture free. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and face erasure. —The Reapers"—" Shiki was interrupted from continuing by the flash of pain that singed over her right palm. "—Oww!" Her shriek echoed in the all but empty underpass, drowning even the trains for an instant; the few pedestrians did not react, they could not hear.

"Timer's back." The clock read 59:45, and its arrival triggered a question with Neku. "What's it for?" If he _was_ a part of the Reaper's Game, then he would need to know its point, apart from causing pain.

"The mission." Shiki still clutched her hand under her armpit, squeezing it to alleviate the burn. "… You really don't know? If we don't clear the mission before the timer hits zero," an air of determined confidence came over her, "we'll both be erased!"

_Sounds crazy to me._ Neku stuck his chin under his collar, but then looked up again, staring at the air before his nose. _But… maybe not that crazy. I saw it happen to those people by the station._ A shrill voice flashed through his memories, steeling his posture._ And met a Reaper. … I can't believe that I'm entertaining that thought. But I know what I heard._ A realisation struck him._ … Wait. _"Why'd the date change on my phone?"

"A day must have gone by." She said it casually, twiddling a bang of hair between her index and middle finger.

"What!"

"I think we fell asleep after the mission." Her stern frown conveyed her resolve. "But that's OK. We need to focus on today!"

_Have you lost you _mind_? It's anything but OK. _Neku regained his composure, not yet deigning to continue talking. _We were in the middle of the street, in broad daylight! Why would we fall asleep!_ The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous the concept was.

Meanwhile, unaware that her partner wasn't listening, Shiki was still chatting: "So… this "cursed sculpture" – it's gotta be talking about the statue of Hachiko."

_Maybe we passed out._ Neku's mind was busy with this latest mystery, not even registering Shiki's lilting voice. _And then… woke up here? Everything in between is a blank._

"But then what's the curse?" Finally, Shiki realised her partner had been too quiet, and was now turned away from her. "… Neku?"

_Did somebody drag us here? Or—_

"C'mon, Neku, pay attention!" She raised her voice, but her demeanour was reticent, with slumped shoulders, eyes at the floor, and was playing with her thumbs.

The boy didn't speak.

"Hey!" Shiki's attitude changed, her frustration rising, her fists clenched like rocks. "What, now you're ignoring me? If we don't work together, we'll fail the mission!" Surely the importance of the mission would provoke something.

Nothing.

Shiki felt like her heart had been punched, a blow through the bones and fibres of muscle. "You don't have to be like this." A pause, then she held her phone up again, staring at the screen. She sighed, and spoke aloud. "What am I doing wrong?" Another pause, and then she had that cheery mask over her face again. "All right! No point in standing here. Let's go find Hachiko."

Shiki tugged her partner's shoulder, compelling him out of the dark underpass and the roar of metal it bore.

Finally, Neku was listening, though it only seemed to be because he was irritated that she had interrupted him. Even so, she took the opportunity to fill him in on her deductions, the smile never faltering: "The "curse sculpture" must be Hachiko. It's the most famous statue here!" He never answered, instead staring past her at a man in a crimson hoodie that threw shadows over his face. _Where have I seen this guy before… _he wondered.

"Neku! Hachiko is this way!" Shiki reminded her partner, but he refused to reply. "Come ON!"

Neku groaned. _Go yourself._ Shiki tugged his shoulder again, pulling him towards the sunlit opening. He neared, and then was forcefully repelled by a hidden barrier. "Oww!"

"What? Another wall!" Shiki almost fell down with surprise.

_So now we're trapped in here._ Neku had no problem with the underpass, but the unpredictability of these barriers annoyed him.

"No… We'll never finish the mission now."

_All she ever does is whine… _"…Why not?" The orange-haired boy questioned.

A glazed look filled her gaze as if it had been painted on. "Because this is the way to Hachiko."

_Then we have to get through. We got past the wall yesterday. Is there some kind of rule?_

"What should we do?" Her voice was quiet, for she had only just built up the courage to interrupt Neku. Again, he did not speak, prompting another flash of anger from Shiki. "Don't just stand there. Think of something!"

_I _am_ thinking. _Neku's hands slunk deep into his pockets, and his nose found itself touching the peak of his tall collar. _Maybe if for just one minute you could stop your bi— _"Huh?"

"Neku, what is it?"

The man in the hoodie was staring right at them, and Neku received a full view of him. _That guy in the red hoodie. I've seen him before. _Neku was sure this time.

"Neku. What are you looking at?" The girl saw his eyes were staring beyond her. "That guy… You know him?"

_I remember… He was at the crossing yesterday, by the wall. Who is he? _Neku had to know why this man had appeared before them twice now, and all he ever did was stare. _I'm gonna try reading his mind._

Neku pulled out the skull pin._ Something about that guy in red… I'm gonna scan him and see what his deal is._ Neku reaffirmed his actions, then concentrated on the badge in his grip."Focus."

The result brought up only more questions. "Huh? Hmph."

His partner saw the change in his face. "What is it?"

"I can't read him."

"What! You can't scan him?"

_I had no trouble scanning people yesterday. Maybe the rules changed? _Neku juggled this theory through his head, then came up with another. _Or maybe the pin is broken._

Shiki was still treating the problem like a localised disaster. "Can we finish the mission without being able to scan?"

Neku hummed as he thought again about the encounter yesterday, how hoodie was the only person, besides the Reaper, who registered the pair's existence, even if it was only with a unfaltering gaze._ What if it's just him? Maybe he's special._

The cerise-haired girl never appreciated prolonged periods of thought, and brought him back to her by shouting his name.

_Ugh… What now!_

"That guy is coming right toward us!"

Turning round, Neku confirmed her words, and hoodie spoke before the pair could do anything else: "You. Scan and erase all the Noise in this area."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" _Are those the conditions to move on?_ His heart gave an excited beat that was rapidly quelled and hidden by Neku's cool demeanour.

"I don't see any Noise!" Shiki ensured her position as master of the obvious.

A grin crossed hoodie's face, "The world is more than just what you see." The man stepped backwards, then made back to his original position almost halfway through the underpass.

"He left. What a creepy guy."

_I don't know what his deal is… But he's a part of the Game. That's for sure. Which can only mean one thing. _Neku thought harder, then assured himself he was correct. _Interesting… His kind can't be scanned?_ He paused as he reached for the skull pin. _"The world is more than just what you see." So to find the Noise… _"Hey. Let's get rid of the Noise."

The girl questioned how. "They're not here!"

The urge to roll his eyes was overruled, and he answered seriously. "Yes they are. We have to scan for them."

"You think?" She quickly accepted his words, tensing. "All right! Let's try it." She loosened her muscles. "But first… I meant to ask you. Shouldn't you try some other pins? You've got more, right?"

"Pins?" _The heck you talking about?_

"Yeah! They should've given you a whole bunch." Shiki pointed to her large hat, on which three of her own pins were attached, one a purple pin with a blank-faced peg doll printed upon it, another was half blue and half pink, and the final was the skull pin. "This one's called Groove Pawn." Shiki said pointing to the first badge, "It's how I fight the Noise."

Neku dug his hand deeper into his pocket, pulling out five pins, plus the skull and the flame pins he already held. _You're right… In my pocket._ He studied them briefly, making out a cobalt one with two yellow zigzags that caricatured lightning, a white one with a design that almost looked like a blue- and yellow-tinged egg spilling a cyan flame from the cracked bottom (or, if he thought about it, an 'energy-blast' from those children's shows), a grey one with a silver arc curving left from the top-right to a fraction above the bottom, another black pin with a white skull, and the final was jet-black with an ivory glove splaying its fingers across the badge.

Shiki continued cheerily. "Why not test them out?"

"How?"

"Remember the flame pin yesterday?

"This one?" Neku picked out the red badge.

"Well, I wasn't able to use it. So maybe—"

"I get it." Neku interrupted her, quickly grasping what she meant. "Certain pins only work for certain people. I've got to try them all and see." _…Talk about a hassle. _

Shiki grinned at him as he went quiet. "What's up?"

_All right, let's see what I can do._ _We need to defeat some Noise to proceed. I can see 'em with a scan, right?_

"Hey, why don't you try those new pins out? If anybody can use them, it's you!"

Neku nodded, and selected two of the badges, the silver arc and a skull. Concentrating on the skull pin, he heard a murmur of thoughts, all coming from far away. Yellow shapes resembling frog-skull flittered across his vision, and he focused on one, drawing it to him. Two frog Noise pulled free from it and it crumbled to the floor as if it were made from ice.

One of the graffiti-styled amphibians leapt at him, and Neku side-stepped while gripping his pin hard – a sand-coloured blade formed over his hand. Next to the boy, his cerise-haired partner held her own badge tightly in her hand, and the black toy emerged from her bag.

When the frog leapt again, Neku was ready, pulling his hand upwards and into contact with the Noise. Before it recovered, he thrust his hand-sword again, impaling the creature, which died in a burst of static. "Hm, easy. Where's the other one?"

"I got it, don't worry." Shiki was already zipping her toy back into her bag.

"Don't rest up yet. There're two more." Neku chose the lightning and the energy-blast pin, then summoned the Noise from another sigil.

More frogs, but they were rapidly disposed of by a bolt of lightning from one hand followed by several bursts of energy. "That was nothing." Neku grinned; the Reaper's Game continued like this, he'd be out in no time.

He called out the final set of Noise, taking out his final pin, the white glove. Tightening his grip on it, Neku tried to use its psych, but found nothing happened. One of the frogs hurtled into his chest, pushing him to the ground, while Neku desperately clicked the pin. The frog leapt again, and Neku closed his eyes as he braised for the impact; none came.

"Neku, look!"

Cracking open an eye, he saw the frog suspended in the air, struggling to make it back to the floor. Surprised, he jumped, dropping the glove pin, and the Noise hit the ground. "Wait, I did that."

Already, the dropped frog had recovered, and both were preparing to attack. Neku solved that problem using his flame pin.

Breathing in deeply, he proceeded to let out a short puff of relief. _That takes care of them all,_ he thought, while Shiki said, "You were right. We have to scan to see the Noise."

Hoodie spoke up from behind the pair. "Objective met."

"But what about the wall?" The girl stuck her hand towards the invisible barrier. "It's still—Huh! It's gone! Why?"

Neku deigned to answer her. "Because we took out the Noise."

"So that's the trick to getting past the walls." This time, Neku did roll his eyes – it was obvious.

"You met my terms." Hoodie spoke over his shoulder before walking away.

"Wait, but—What is with that guy?" Shiki looked crestfallen; her moods changed with the winds, Neku noted, then considered what she had said. _He knows too much… He must be one of them._

"Well, anyway… You did great." Cheery again.

"What?" Neku was growing tired that she never explained herself up front.

"You were able to use all the pins!" Still cheery.

"So?"

"You're like some kind of psych genius!" Ecstatic.

_Come on. Using a couple pins doesn't make anyone a genius. Don't be naïve. The bigger question… _Neku held out the set of badges again,_ is where these came from._

"Huh?" Now, she was confused. Neku was glad he could keep his emotions at a plateau. Shiki continued, "Neku. You have two Player Pins."

"So?"

"So why two? You only need one." She was tapping her chin as if this was a great mystery.

_How should I know? Why do I have any of them? I need them for pyshcs, so I can stop the Noise from killing me. But how'd I get 'em?_

"Well, umm…" Shiki's current mask was worry, but she quickly replaced it with an expression that mirrored the panicked waving of her hands. "Two is better than one! So, like, don't feel bad!"

The boy made no move_, _butthought,_ You're the one who said I only need one…_

"Think how lucky I am!" Again, a smile leapt onto her features. "My partner's a psych whiz." Shiki thought that the best way to breach Neku's semi-hostile exterior was with compliments. "A genius! You're a genius, Neku! I'd never make it without you!"

Unfortunately, Neku knew exactly what she was trying. _If you're trying to flatter someone…_ He turned from her, clicking up the volume in his headphones, _you could try to sound a little genuine._

Now, she was saddened once more. "Neku, you listening?" The ensuing silence rubbed her abrasively. "Stop that." Snapping, her hands were clenched at her sides, stiff with frustration. "I'm just trying to be nice."

"I'm listening."

"Well, how am I supposed to tell when you just stand there?" She knitted her arms above her chest, hoping to give off a uncompromising air. "You should take off those headphones. It's rude."

_What is this girl playing at?_ "Would you shut the hell up! I just met you. I don't like you. And I don't give a rat's ass if you think I'm rude!" His tone carried more sting than the words.

"You don't have to yell…" Shiki looked down, to her left, then to her phone, "What am I going to do?" For once, she was silent.

_Now she's playing with her phone? _He couldn't stand her any longer, and turned away. _Forget this._

Shiki saw her partner walking away, and snapped back to reality. "Oh! Hey! Wait up!

"Neku… Stop! Wait for me!" The girl burst into a sprint for a few steps and caught the orange-haired youth at the just outside the underpass. "Where are you going? I'm your partner." No matter how many times she repeated this, she could never drum the importance through his headphones.

"… Gotchu punks now." A furious yell came from further down the path.

Shiki gasped and whirled around, forgetting her anger at Neku for the moment. "Wha—Who's There!" She called, catching a good look of the aggressive newcomer was taller than both Shiki and Neku, and more muscled, but looked to be around the same age. He wore sand-coloured shorts that were baggier even than Neku's, a simple loose white tank-top, and large red and black trainers. A Wild Boar skateboard was balanced between his left hand and the ground. In his Loose chains adorned his wrist, waist and neck, and his yellow hair was largely covered by a black stocking hat emblazoned with a large white skull; Shiki recognised it as a CAT design.

The youth, right hand gripping his wide left shoulder, bawled, "You got us good yesterday, but today I'ma crush you, yo!"

"Um… what? You've got the wrong person." Shiki stuttered, trying to regain her composure, but unable to calm her alarmed nerves. "Neku, you know this guy?"

Neku's reply was blunt and flat, but held some weight. "Don't insult me."

Skull-cap came closer, unaffected by the pair's words, anger seething below his voice. "Need a hint? Go ask your friends."

""Friends"? What are you talking about?" Shiki's voice was getting higher as her panic increased.

Upon hearing this, Skull-cap flew into a fury, his free hand quivering. "Shut up, yo! You ain't foolin' me! I can't scan you. You gotta be widdem! You can't outsmart me, yo."

The cerise-haired girl knitted her arms before her body and crossed her legs subconsciously, crying out, "Wait! Just—"

Suddenly, a much higher and female voice shouted, urgence evident in the voice. "Beat! Stop it!" A girl in an orange t-shirt ran up to her partner, placing her small hand on his shaking fist. "They're not Reapers! They're Players, just like us."

An unusual combination of confusion and embarrassment was slapped on the older Player's face. "What?"

"See?" The younger girl was pointing towards Shiki's hat, where the skull pin was visible along with the other two badges. "They've got Player Pins. Players must not be able to scan each other. Remember? You couldn't scan me either."

The ensuing silence was finally broken by an 'Oh' from Skull-cap. "Yo, sorry I jumped to conclusions…" His head was held low and arms hung down, while Shiki held her hand up to cover her grin. She replied, "No worries. You just gave us a start."

"Yesterday this pink-haired chick cornered us before we could get to 104. Then Pinky sicked a buncha Noise on us… Messed us up bad, yo."

"So that's why you were out for payback." The expression covering Shiki's face mimicked that of a great thinker pondering on an immense problem.

"Yup. … Hey, hold up. We should do introductions." A broad smile leapt from one ear to the other. "The name's Beat. And this is my… my partner, Rhyme."

"Hello!" The younger girl said on cue. Shiki studied her more thoroughly now, taking in the black tilted skull-and-crossbones on her t-shirt, the Player Pin on her black knitted beanie, trainers similar to Beat's, but yellow where red should be, and white shorts that cut off close to her skinny knees.

Shiki replied quickly, not wanting to come across unfriendly. "Hi! I'm Shiki. That over there's Neku. He's my partner." Neku was standing a way off, presumably not listening because he was tuned in only to his headphones.

Beat rubbed the back of his neck while trying to figure something out, then said, "Wha's with the phones. He still mad?"

"No… he's just Neku. Don't feel bad."

Beat figured the something out, and spared no time sharing it. "… Hey, I know! Lemme give you a tip to make up for jumpin' yas. You figure out how to use your phones yet?" His grin was smug.

"You mean our cell phones? Well… we don't get any calls…" Shiki admitted, "Sending messages doesn't work either. All we do with ours is check the mission mail. Why? Do they do anything else?"

"We played around a bit and found some things—" Rhyme had begun to answer for her partner, but he interrupted her.

"Whoa, you mean you ain't usin' yours? You two gonna get owned down the road, yo!"

"Umm… I guess…" Worry crept across Shiki's voice, so Beat reassured her with his next words: "It's cool! You two got questions, you ask us. Gotta put our heads together, you feel me?"

Finally knowing more than just what the Reapers had told her was an exciting concept, so Shiki had to be so careful not to trip over her words that her voice sounded subdued. "So about the phone…"

"Yeah. You can use it to check out your pins, see which do what."

"Check them out? How?"

"Well… Why don't you take this pin? Then you can try it out!" Rhyme unattached a lime and dark-green striped pin from her baggy t-shirt and showed it to Shiki, the orange soda can in full view.

"We can keep it?"

"Sure. We had extras."

"Wow! Thanks!"

"You should use that pin I gave you and try it out for yourself."

"We will Thanks!" Shiki chuckled. "Do you know anything about the Reapers' Game?"

Rhyme's face fell. "Just that you have to stay alive for seven days." Her partner then contributed that there's a new mission every day.

"The Reapers send them?" Shiki asked.

"Gotta be. It's their game, right?"

"And if we fail the mission, they erase us." The image erasure conjured in the cerise-haired girl's mind was frightening.

"… Maybe not." Rhyme, challenged, her face lightening with hope, shocking Shiki. "Beat and I never made it to 104. But here we are."

Clearly, this had never occurred to her skateboarding partner, as he said, "So like… we don't gotta play? Sweet!"

Rhyme raised a contradiction again: "It's too early to say. We should carry out the missions. I don't want to find out what happens if these timers hit zero." Her brow creased. "Do you? Thankfully, ours vanished yesterday before time ran out."

Shiki hummed in light consideration, then she stated that hers and Neku's had gone when they had reached 104. This gave Rhyme an idea: "Hey, you think you and Neku finishing the mission might've got Beat and I off the hook?"

Shiki replied, "Perhaps," and another question came to mind. "So who's the girl with pink hair?"

"Heh," Beat fell serious, "that cow?"

Rhyme ignored her partner's rudeness and explained, "She attacked us in the scramble crossing. Those black wings… She's prob'ly a Reaper."

"Yeah, we couldn't scan her." Beat added.

A thought came to mind. "So, it doesn't work on Reapers…"

A devious smile flicked over the younger girl's face, "Or on other Players, apparently."

"Guess we found that out the hard way." Shiki agreed.

"Sorry…" Beat's head fell.

Another thought struck Shiki. "So if she's a Reaper, does that mean she gives out the mission?"

"Who knows…" The boy mumbled. "Yo, that reminds me – 'sup with today's mission? It don't make sense."

"Yeah, about that…"

Shiki continued in this line of thought, questioning, "What's your take on the mission?"

"The cursed sculpture or whatever?"

Rhyme provided her theory. "It's gotta be Hachiko."

"Yeah! That's just what I said! But what's the curse?"

"Hmm… You got me." It seemed the other two Players hadn't worked this out yet, either.

"We should probably start by heading that way." Shiki suggested, not wanting to see the others fall into a state of hopelessness. Beat's reply was not welcome. "Can't. There's a wall, yo."

"Again? What's up with that? We keep hitting these invisible wall…"

"I think we trapped in here, or somethin'." Beat look down, gripping his shoulder more tightly than previously, and his thick cap nearly fell over his eyes. "I tried breakin' the walls, and they don't break."

"But some you can get through." The younger girl piped in, and piqued Shiki's interest. "We noticed guys in red by the walls we were able to pass."

Shiki giggled, satisfied, "Thanks for all the info! 'Specially about the phone! That's gonna be a huge help."

"Heh heh. Good! Always happy to help."

"I feel ready to take on anything!"

This time Beat replied, casting his eyes to the drab pavement. "Yeah, well—you might not wanna say that. Rhyme's thinkin' things is gonna get tough." He perked up as an idea hit him. "Yo, we should all work together!"

Rhyme concurred with a cheery saying: "They say two heads are better than one. And four has to be better than two!"

"Great idea! I am so in!"

Neku spoke up, proving he had been listening. "… Do what you want. I work alone."

"What! Neku, you can't mean that!" Shiki spun round to her partner, who stood frowning with his arms firmly crossed.

"Forget it. I can't take one more minute of your nagging. I don't need a bunch of strangers bringing me down."

"Neku! How can you say that" The cerise-haired girl was appalled at the boy, sure that he was making a lame joke – no-one would want to play the Game alone, would they?

_Don't ask me. Maybe I'm just angry._

"We're on your si—"

"I can't scan you. You could be Players… or you could be Reapers. I have no way of knowing."

"But the Player Pins!" Shiki tried desperately to convince him, knowing that they needed each other to win.

"That's not enough."

"Yo, Phones!" Beat hollered, "What the hell's your problem! We just lookin' out for you, and you treat us like this?"

Rhyme attempted to placate her partner, seeing where Neku was coming from. "I shouldn't have opened my big mouth…" she finished.

"Aw, Rhyme…" Beat grunted in annoyance, then flew into a fury. "You pierce a' DIRT!" Screw you! We don't want your help!" He turned, his blue eyes burning with anger, then pulled his partner away. "Le's bounce, Rhyme."

"Aah! Wait, no! We're sorry!" Shiki called at the top of her voice, but the other pair never turned, never faltered, just kept walking. "… They left. Nice going, Neku! We should all stick together, and you know it!"

"Then why don't you go with them?" That tone hurt Shiki deeply, reminding her of the way someone had once said something to her, something she could never forget.

"Listen to yourself…" Her voice trembled, and even she was not sure if it was from keeping anger in check or from holding back tears. "We're partners, Neku. But I don't understand you! Let me in! Tell me what you're thinking!"

The boy was unphased by her spectrum of emotions. "Let yourself in. You can scan me."

"You know that's impossible! Besides, we're right here." Shiki was pleading now; maybe if she could get him to tell her his problem, she could tell him hers. "Let's just talk to each other—"

"And say what? I'm not opening up to anyone. Ever. Other people just hold me back. I can do things my own way." Neku finished before leaving her.

"N-Neku!" Shiki shrieked in shock, then fell into a more reserved state, sighing as she took out her phone once more. "Tell me what I'm supposed to do…"

* * *

A red-hooded Reaper stood waiting at his post, watching the two Players approach. One, a teenager with brown-orange hair who favoured J of the M clothes, was in front, and the other, a skimpily-dressed D+B fan, chased hurriedly behind.

_Another guy in red._ Neku thought when he saw the hoodie. _We must be headed toward a—_

Shiki didn't stop with Neku, and ran straight into it. "Ouch! A wall."

_I knew it._

The girl recovered quickly, turning with a smile prepared. "So… we just have to defeat some Noise, right?"

_She is so _slow_! Do I have to do everything?_ Neku wondered to himself before marching towards the Reaper, much to Shiki's surprise: "Neku! Where are you—"

"I know what you are." He said directly to hoodie, unafraid of the Reaper.

"My terms: Lift the statue's curse."

Neku ignored whatever he said, continuing, "You're a Reaper."

"I don't get paid to chitchat. Play the Game."

_Hmph. That was a waste of time. Lift the statue's curse, huh? That sounds like the mission. _An unwanted thought hit Neku hard. _But Hachiko is _past_ the wall… Huh! Wait—_

"Neku… Please _stop_ walking off without me!"

"Hey."

"Arrgh!" My name is Shiki. Can you say "Shiki"?"

"Hey, I see another statue." Neku pointed out a large stone head with some plants growing on the stone base.

"Oh yeah! The Moyai!"

"Like Easter Island? What's a Moai doing here?"

""Moyai"! With a 'y'!" Shiki almost took it personally, but continued, "Never thought about where it came from…"

"Think it's cursed?"

"I don't know. It looks pretty normal to me."

"Let's find out." Neku was already halfway to the head, and Shiki was forced to chase him yet again, not catching the boy until they were at the statue.

Neku spoke the second she paused for breath, "So we need to lift the statue's curse. Which means that Moai—"

"Mo-YAI." Shiki stressed the word, becoming very annoyed at Neku's ignorance regarding the head.

_Whatever. Let's check it out._ Neku pulled out his Player Pin, knowing already that it was important to the Game, and clicked it, feeling the tide of thoughts crash into his mind: _I know Grandfather's store is around here somewhere… Nothing wrong with being a trailblazer… You're feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place, I can tell… Now I just have to hope he's actually a man…_

The Player focused, drowning out the thoughts so that he could only see the Noise sigils hanging in the air. Two yellow Noise were floating just above the statue.

Shiki gasped, obviously having scanned too, "Noise!" She had broken his concentration.

"That must be the curse. Maybe if we erase all that Noise, we can lift it."

Neku drew closer to the Moyai, noticing one person in particular was standing right in front of the thing, speaking to himself: "… C'mon. … You can tell me. … Something on your mind?"

_That guy… Who is he talking to?_

"… Tell me what's ailing you. … We're not all made of stone."

Neku was silent, thinking to himself, when Shiki approached. "Neku. Give the man some space…" He did not reply, so she shouted, "Neku!"

"I know, I'll take care of it." The boy said as Shiki handed him a green pin. "The Noise are buzzing around the Moyai, right?" Already, Neku had summoned the Noise from their sigils, but the amphibians did not seem in the least grateful for their freedom.

Neku was prepared, sending out several bolts of lightning that struck one, but the other two evaded harm, flinging into his side. He grunted in irritation as his psych was interrupted, so pulled out the hand-blade pin, pushing the two Noise back.

"Neku, behind you!" Neku spun around just as Shiki's black toy gave an uppercut a frog which had gotten too close. "That was too close."

He didn't reply, but Shiki liked to think it was because he had already found a way to busy himself – by shooting a psych of blue bullets at the two other frogs.

The cerise-haired girl concentrated on her toy, and willed it to beat down the frog, until at last it disintegrated in a stream of monochrome particles.

Neku, meanwhile, had encircled his two opponents with fire and was telekinetically lifting them into the flames. Shiki decided to aid her partner by sending in her psych, watching with satisfaction after the toy erased the two Noise.

"Objective met." The hooded Reaper muttered as he brought down the wall, but went unheard by the two Players, one of whom was saying, "So the Moyai was possessed by Noise… and we had to scan to find it."

_The guy in red… _Neku himself wasn't even listening to his partner, but was checking something instead. _Yup. He's gone. But we can probably get through now._

"We freed the cursed sculpture. Does that mean we cleared the mission?"

"No, that was just to cross the wall. See?" Neku showed her his palm; it read 32:15. "My clock's still ticking."

"Yeah… Mine, too." _Be positive, _Shikithought_, positive_. "Well, at least the wall's gone."

"Let's go find this "Hachiko"… our real target." Neku fiddled with his orange locks.

"Neku… You talk like you've never heard of it."

"Nope. What's Hachiko?"

By now, the amusement appeal of Shiki jumping onto one foot was wearing off, fast. "WHAT!" How can you live in this country and not know Hachiko?" When she received no reply, Shiki, fearing she had angered him, carried on chatting. "Remember where we met yesterday? There's a statue of a dog in the plaza. That's Hachiko. Now, I have a question. How'd you figure out how to get past the wall?" More silence provoked her to say, "Not again…"

An uneasy hush settled over both Players, broken seconds after Shiki had checked her phone: "All right! Fine. Let's just head for Hachiko."

"… Oh. … You're all better now! … I'm so glad." The guy was speaking to the Moyai again.

_He can tell? In a way, that's pretty impressive._

"… Hey. … Hachiko seems down lately. … Don't you think?"

_Hachiko is feeling down? Does that mean it's cursed, too?_

"C'mon Neku. Let's head over to Hachiko!" Shiki chirped, feeling important that she was reminding her partner of their mission. She didn't know they were being watched.

* * *

Silver. Everything on the rooftop was silver. No two objects were the same shade, but everything was silver. Glittering grey roof, lightning-bright water tower, brushed-silver generator, even this man's jacket was enamel white.

The man was huge, at least two metres high, every inch of his body rippling with muscle, and his head covered by a thick mop of brown dreadlocks. A knowing grin occupied his lower face.

He gave out a rough chuckle, and muttered in a gravelly voice. "That young lady… She has just the ingredient I need."

* * *

"We made it! And with plenty of time left!" Shiki was almost jumping in excitement the second Hachiko was in sight.

_This is where we met yesterday… So the two places are connected._

"OK!" She was serious now, wanting to be rid of the mission. "Let's lift Hachiko's curse!"

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"Well… umm…" Shiki fell silent, tapping her cheek while she thought. "Maybe we could erase the Noise around it, or… yeah.

_She's clueless, _Neku groaned, wondering why he had thought she would be of any help. _This is why I can't count on other people. … They're all clueless._

The two approached the dog's statue, with Shiki assuring him the statue was possessed by Noise, too. "Scan the statue!"

_But doesn't that seem too… easy?_ Neku shook his head, tossing his spiky hair every around like it was in a strong wind. He clicked the Player Pin, feeling the torrent of consciousnesses wash against his mind. Focusing, he muted the thousands of thoughts and brought the Noise sigils to his attention. After scouring the statue, Neku stopped the scan. "No Noise around the statue…"

"You tried scanning?" Shiki's voice was quiet, mirroring her suddenly meek stance. "Then Hachiko must not be cursed."

_Could we have the wrong statue._ For the first time today, the hot haste of panic prickled Neku's skin. Meanwhile, his partner said something that he never overheard. Neku cursed. _We don't have time to hunt for another statue…_

By now, Shiki knew how to grab his attention. "EARTH TO NEKU!"

"What!" He snapped, annoyed that she would interrupt him now.

"Something's wrong with Hachiko."

"Like what?"

Shiki hummed in thought, then said that she wasn't sure after several moments. "but it looks different from when I saw it at Hachi Fest." Shiki stared intently at the statue, then repeated herself. "Neku… Why don't we examine Hachiko first? It might yield some clues."

"Then let's take a closer look." Every time Neku said "let's", she almost jumped, excited that he was suggesting teamwork.

Shiki stepped up to the monument, leaning in just inches away from the dog's cold stone nose. "Hmm… Something is definitely off. When I saw him at Hachi Fest, Hachiko wasn't like this at all."

_I should get a closer look…_ Neku leaned in next to his partner, not sure what he was looking for; he hadn't even seen this dog before.

"Hmm… Hachiko seems less… lovable?" Shiki suggested, uncertain dripping from every word.

Neku pulled back, and, in passing, asked. "What's Hachiko Fest?"

"Oh, it's a blast! It's this festival where you touch Hachiko for good luck! If you touch the right place in the right way, your wishes come true!"

"Wow." Neku's face never faltered, didn't show any joy. "Charming."

"They hold it every year. And each time, the place you have to touch changes. But if you get it wrong…"

"… You explode?"

"You get cursed!"

"Hmm… Sounds pretty extreme." _How can anyone believe this trash?_ "So, Hachiko's curse…" Neku brought the conversation back to the present problem.

"Umm… I know something's off…" Shiki mumbled through semi-closed lips.

_Well, you just take your time. Cause, you know, we've got so much of it. Meanwhile, I'm going to do some recon._

"Why don't we start scanning around?" She was thinking along the same lines as he had been. "Somebody else may know what to do." These words gave Neku an idea. "I know just the guy." He muttered.

* * *

_Hachiko seems troubled, too. Were I only able to polish away the strains on his weary heart! Forgive me, Hachi… _Neku ceased the scan just as the Moyai guy started talking: "… Hey. … Hachiko seems down lately. … Don't you think?

_What is it with this guy and statues? _Neku folded his arms as he listened to the guy's words.

"… He must be like you. … Drifting in a sea of woes… … If only I could polish all his pain away… Then he'd feel better. … His heart would shine again!"

"Polish away Hachiko's pain? That's… idiotic."

"Hey… Neku, we should try that!"

"Try _what_?"

"Polishing! Hachiko did look a little dirty. And I saw this weird marking on him. What if it was some kind of hex?"

_Or what if someone just went crazy with a magic marker? Well, if that's the only lead we've got… _The idea was absurd, but statue-man had known when the Moyai had been freed of Noise. "All right. Let's try it."

"Yeah!" Shiki was overjoyed that Neku was agreeing with her. Maybe she _was_ making progress with him. "Yes! Now we can free Hachiko from the curse. Let's hurry over to Hachiko!"

Shiki was as happy as a child in a candy shop. Neku was less so. _… Do you ever shut up?_

The two made their way back into the plaza, Neku running to keep ahead of the timer, and the cerise-haired girl skipping beside him, but as soon as they arrived at the statue, her head fell. "What should we do, Neku?"

"I suppose… we polish it…"

"OK, Neku! Let's polish like we mean it!"

No longer could the boy hold in his vexation at the situation, and he burst out with complaints. "Isn't that gonna… you know… create a scene?"

"Don't worry!" Unperturbed by his embarrassment, she giggled, "No one's watching. And so what if they see us?"

_See us petting a piece of _rock_? _If this was the only way to complete the mission, and he couldn't rely on other Players to win. "All right. Whatever…"

After being handed a cloth from Shiki's bag, Neku hesitantly put his hand on the rock, and started scratching the dirt away from it, aware that his cheeks were burning. Brown flakes fell from the dog, to be replaced by a hoary silver. The "hex" Shiki had mentioned grew, spreading in neat curves over the front limbs of the dog.

_Grrr…_

"You say something, Neku?"

"Nope."

"You know… It seems the more we polish… the less this looks like Hachiko…

_GRRRRR…_

"Stop growling and polish!"

"I'm not growling…"

The blue hex marks dripped off the statue like a waterfall, spreading and stretching like running water until it formed a solid shape – a Noise wolf, with ashen fur and deep blue graffiti forelimbs and tail.

"Neku, something came out of the statue!"

"You're good as gone!" Already with a pin in hand, Neku threw the wolf back, to give himself some time to ready his other pyschs. To his surprise, though, the wolf had already run back to the pair, knocking them both over.

He snarled, pulling out another pin, and firing blue bullets after the Noise, but was unable to make any hit – the thing was too fast.

Shiki pulled out her toy, and sent him into the wolf's path. It leapt onto the Noise's snout, bringing the creature to a halt. "Now, Neku!"

He understood her plan, and clicked his hand-blade psych, slicing the hide of the Noise, and then sheltering his eyes as the snowstorm of static blew past his face.

"Neku, we did it!" Shiki chirped ecstatically. "The timer's gone! So there was Noise possessing both the Moyai _and_ Hachiko."

"And our mission was to get rid of both."

The girl paused, building her courage, then said, "Hey, Neku…"

"Yeah?" He seemed mildly interested that she had anything to say _now_.

"You said before you don't need any friends."

"Yeah. Your point?" _Where's she going with this?_

"Well, you couldn't have solved Hachiko's riddle without me." She was determined to get him to open up. She had to if she was going to be partnered to him for the rest of the Game.

"What? Get real."

"If I hadn't noticed the pattern, we might not have cleared the mission." Her

confidence was failing, and she trailed off.

"Listen, Stalker. I don't need you to solve one stupid riddle."

She spoke up again, hiding her disappointment behind her words. "Riiight. Well, if you ask me—"

"Arrrgh! This is soooooo infuriating!" A familiar sharp female voice cried out in exasperation. "What… You two again?"

Both Players gasped sharply, and Neku shouted, "That voice… You were at 104 yesterday!"

"You're that Reaper!"

Before them stood a woman who could not be over seventeen. Everything below her knees was covered with white high-heeled boots, the same colour as a corset around her waist. These two articles of clothing stood in stark contrast to the black hot-pants and the grey-blue turtleneck she wore, the latter covering her entire arms and ending around her waist in a frilly miniskirt. Her lips were a glossy pink, the same colour as her hair.

"Well, excuuuse me for doing my job."

"Then it's true?" Shiki panicked, while Neku beside her had regained his composure. _A Reaper…_ he thought, _She gives out the missions?_

Boredom now dripped from the woman's face. "You know, you owe me a bowl of ramen. For not disappearing like you're s'posed to."

_This… girl is a Reaper?_

"What's wrong?" She came over cocky, changing moods as quickly as Shiki. "Too spooked to answer? Well, this should bring you around!" Something in the woman's palm glowed, and Neku caught sight of several Noise sigils appear and unleashing their cargo – two wolves and a porcupine, with long red graffiti quills.

"We can do this, Neku!" Shiki said, but her tone was less sure as she sent her toy into battle with the porcupine. It punched the creature's nose thrice, then delivered an uppercut to its throat.

Meanwhile, her partner had trapped the two wolves between walls of flame, severely limiting their range of movement, which seemed to be their only way of attack. Neku pulled out several more pins, lightning and bullets, but was interrupted before he could erase the Noise by roar of pain, and a slowing heartbeat in his ears; Shiki was hurt, seriously.

"Neku, use Rhyme's pin!" She gasped while clutching her stomach, then was knocked over as several loose quills spread around her exploded.

He looked at the soda can badge, then clicked it, surprised when it transformed into a real fizzy drink. _Great. Maybe we can beat the Noise by forcing them to recycle._ Taking a sip, the heartbeat instantly faded to a low hum, no louder than the conversations of the people of Shibuya, people who were unaware two Players were now fighting for their lives.

The black toy picked itself back up, and lunged at the porcupine, battering it with punches again. Neku turned back towards the wolves, who were now free from the smouldering embers, just in time to see one slam him to the ground.

"ENOUGH!" He yelled, slicing upwards with his Shockwave pin, and picking himself back onto his feet as the static cloud raced into the air. Clicking the Psychokinesis pin, he threw the other wolf into Shiki's opponent, the porcupine.

"You OK?" Neku bit his tongue when he realised how Shiki would interpret this concern, and ignored her reply by unleashing a storm of psychs onto the two remaining Noise, erasing one while the other still stood.

It released multiple quills, all of which exploding around the pair and knocking them to the ground with as much force as if they had been punched. Neku felt the heartbeat rise, but not as much as before, not enough to warrant the Cure Drink.

"Mr Mew, gettim!" Shiki pointed at the Noise, and her toy reacted by hitting the porcupine one final time, erasing it.

The battle had taken its toll, and both Players were struggling for breath. _Nngh… _Neku tried to pull himself together. _These Noise are tougher than the others…_

"Wow." Pinky giggled, "You're, like, stronger than I thought. But I'm not done playing yet." She hopped mischievously onto one foot, the object in her palm glowing as it created another yellow sigil. "This next Noise will be a killer."

Neku watched in horror as a large red reptile tried to pull itself free, its roar shaking the pair. _No… I can't keep this up… I've got one chance._

"Hmm?" Pinky recognised the forming of a plan in a desperate Player's head.

_I have to take her out!_

"Please tell me you're not planning on fighting me?" She broke into laughter, bringing up her gloved hand. "How stupid can you get? You'll never win against a Reaper! But all right. I'm game. I was getting bored anyway." Closing her hand around the glowing object, the Noise, only partially free, was destroyed.

_What! She erased her own Noise?_

"You seem surprised."

"Aren't the Noise on your side?"

This shocked Pinky, who stood up straight again, taller than both Player now. "What? Eww, gross! Don't group us together. The Noise are nothing but tools. Pawns. Just like you Players." Again, she laughed, the sounds hard as rock.

_Rrgh… I can't let this brat win! But can I stop her? I have no idea how strong she is… Doesn't matter. I have to try!_

"Don't, Neku!" Shiki had been more affected by the fight, and only just built up the strength to shout. "You don't want to take her on! She can erase you in a second! Ohh…" She gripped her sides in pain, wishing Neku had clicked the Cure Drink one more time.

"Hmph." Neku huffed, loosening his muscles; the "killer Noise" had been erased anyway, hadn't it?

"Aww, what? You're giving up? Booo-ring." Pinky flicked her fringe. "Don't get my hopes up like that. Kiiljoy." She folded her arms in amusement, a grin settling on her face. "Now that I'm in the mood… maybe I should just finish the job."

Neku gasped, raising his arms subconsciously in defence.

"But… I can't do that."

_Huh?_

"Well, this is a pickle… Hmm… I know!" She hopped onto one leg, cupping her bangs in one hand. "Let's try something fun!" A special bonus challenge just for you! If you pull it off, I'll le you out of the Reaper's Game!"

"You… you will?" Neku couldn't believe her words, but anything that could get him out of this hellhole must be worth it, right?

"You betcha! Sweet deal, huh? So, like, what do you say?"

_A ticket out…_ Neku gasped, not in pain this time, but in astonishment.

"Neku, don't! Don't listen!" Shiki was desperate, her face contorting to withstand the pain; she hadn't realised she had been so hurt in the fight.

"You back there." Pinky lifted her head, not amused at this girl's antics. "Shut up!" She turned back to the male Player. "Now, are you in, or are you out?"

"… I'm in." Yes, it was worth it.

Shiki cried his name from behind him, her voice full of desperation.

"Whee! 'Atta boy! Now, let's get started! Oh, I forgot to mention. If you fail… I erase you."

"What!"

"Thankfully, the rules are veeery simple. You have one minute… to erase that girl." Pinky held out her finger, indicating Neku's partner.

"What? Erase her?"

"Yup. Poof! Kaput! Easy, right? Just pretend you're erasing the Noise. Whew, this one's already in the bag. All right. Ready? Start!"

_W-wait! Dammit… She's asking me to kill someone. There's no way I can do that. But if I don't…_

"Neku…" Shiki pleaded, sure he would come around. He had to.

Undisturbed by the conflict of conscious, Pinky chirped, "30 seconds! Still on the fence? Then let me give you an incentive. That girl? She's been spying for the Reapers."

As Neku expressed his disbelief, Shiki barged forward, her anger diminishing her pain. "Hey! What are you saying!"

"Thanks for checking in so often. We couldn't have done it without you." The woman had to contain her excitement at pitching Player against Player.

"Shut up! Don't lie!" Every word contained more anger than the last, and Shiki's small fists shook. "Neku… She's making all of this—"

"Your phone. Why did you keep playing with your phone?"

Shiki gapsed, realising how Neku saw it; but could she tell him? "Oh… I was… just…"

Pinky giggled, watching the orange-haired boy's inner conflict settling. "Just _spying_. She's not very good at covering it up."

"I didn't spy! I swear!"

"G'bye. And thanks for playing. 10 seconds… You're the star, kiddo." Pinky looked closely at the boy, knew the type of person he was. "Just do things your way."

He never spoke.

"What are you waiting for? Do what comes naturally." The woman was struggling to contain her bloodlust. "Save yourself. Screw everybody else, right?"

"Don't, Neku. Don't kill me." Tears brimmed behind the girl's hazel eyes. "Please, don't kill me."

"I have to." Already, the Psychokinesis pin had activated in his palm, suspending small rocks in the air. Before Neku stood a cerise-haired girl, quivering. A large hat covered her long hair, and her cherry-pink locks coiled down her back.

The psych spread out, pulling her into the air. Neku studied her under the thick strands of hair that had fallen just above his eyes. All her clothes were that of any young woman: tall brown boots, brown sling-bag, a green miniskirt, a tiny hot-pink top, a powder-yellow jacket…

She gained height, now half a metre from the pavement, clutching her throat as Neku tightened his hold, but still not enough to do more than discomfort her.

Neku still struggled with his conscience, unwilling to kill a human girl, but if she didn't die, he would. He looked at her face, unblemished and flawless, and tried to pin her as a spy.

Her eyes held no anger, only disappointment.

_**Chapter Closed**_

* * *

This is the never-ending chapter; never before have I written a chapter that was more than a 1500 words. Still, it ensures that I now qualify for beta reading, by about eight-thousand words over! But now my DS is dead and I need a new one to sort of, you know, be able to write chapter three.


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